Citizen TV’s Janet Mbugua. Image via
One would think that a grown woman would have a say on what she could wear in the twenty-first century, the world being liberal and all, but I guess that expectation is much too high.
I read an article today by Philip Mwaniki where he barraged female anchors for ‘crossing the line between decent and trashy’ and the subsequent ‘dumbing down of our news’. Really, Philip? Really!? I may be mistaken but I cannot call to mind any time I have seen a female anchor dressed in a way that was more suited for a pole rather than a news desk.
‘Just read the damn news’, you say, but that’s not how the world works, my good man. No one ‘just’ listens to the news. Every day at 9 o’clock, we sit down and see that familiar face on the screen and for the next hour, we listen to them. Their voice becomes familiar and even their sense of humor eventually grows on you! Heck, people see their girlfriends far less often in a week! A relationship is formed.These ladies dress for their figure, and I must say they look fabulous! Are you then convicting them of looking good? Well, sir, of that, they are guilty.
You speak of straight red-blooded men and wagging tongues but what about us straight red-blooded women? Back when Swaleh Mdoe was a new face on television, my cousin would watch the 7 o’clock news religiously. Was she listening to the news? Hell no! I could also start a tirade on male anchors and their bicep-gripping suits… but I don’t! Why? Because I’m not hopelessly at the mercy of my hormones and I’m not really complaining about bicep-gripping suits ( hubba hubba).
Women went into the professional world more than half a century ago but we still have a lot of issues surrounding that rippling under the surface. Is it that women should dress like men so as to gain professional respect? Should a woman leave her femininity behind when she goes to the office every morning? Why is it a disadvantage to be feminine in the professional world? Is it truly a man’s world after all?